The Research Institute began as a project submitted by geochemist Ellen Kooijman (also known as Alatariel) to LEGO Ideas, a fan-sourced platform. Alatariel called her project the “Female Minifigure Set” and the LEGO Ideas community embraced it. The prototype is shown here.

After attracting the required 10,000 supporters, the project was approved for production, released as a limited edition item under the “Research Institute” name, and quickly sold out.